1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a boiling oven for use in cooking food in the oven from an overhead radiant heating source. Adjustable reflective plates are furnished in the oven to enable the formation of a miniature boiling compartment for broiling small food portions at a more rapid rate with much less energy.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For many years it has been possible to both bake and broil in a single electric oven cooking cavity. Baking is performed mainly by convection air currents set up by a bake heating element located adjacent the bottom wall of the oven liner. Broiling is performed mainly by radiant heat energy from an overhead broil element located adjacent the top wall of the oven liner. This broiling operation cooks only the top half of the food, hence the food must be turned over near the middle of the broiling operation to cook the bottom half. This broil element is usually energized at quarter wattage during the baking operation to provide top browning. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,836,697 of S. C. Jordan, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
This Jordan patent provides for greater heating intensities during broiling operations by transposing the lower bake element and mounting it just beneath the top broiling element so as to supplement the radiant heat output of the primary broiling element.
Another broiling oven having means for varying the concentration or intensity of the heat radiated from the broil element is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,844,702 of J. E. Staats, which is also assigned to the present assignee.
This Staats patent provides the broil element with a plurality of elongated reflectors, each pivotally mounted over a straight parallel portion of a sinuous, looped broil element. The elongated reflectors are all joined together by a link mechanism having a manual control knob "for positioning the reflectors so as to concentrate or focus the radiated heat in a desired pattern at any one of several oven rack positions."
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a large broiling oven cavity with the option of a miniature broiling compartment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a broiling oven with adjustable reflective plates for forming a miniature broiling compartment so as to increase the rate of broiling while using less radiant heat energy.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a miniature broiling compartment of the class described where the reflected radiant energy is substantially confined within the compartment.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a broiling oven with heat reflective plates which may be arranged to form a miniature broiling compartment in the top portion of the oven to substantially surround the food to be broiled therein.